


Choosing You

by reginaldthegreat



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Future, Love Confessions, Past Character Death, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:01:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28285137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reginaldthegreat/pseuds/reginaldthegreat
Summary: After both Yue and Suki have died, Sokka is hesitant about returning your feelings.
Relationships: Sokka (Avatar) & Reader, Sokka (Avatar)/Reader
Kudos: 29





	Choosing You

Sokka was hesitant when you first admitted you had feelings for him. He had loved two others before you, both Yue and Suki, both who died young. The first time, he believed it was chance, the second time, he interpreted it as his own personal curse. He couldn’t let himself love you. Not if there were any chance at all that loving you would result in anything happening to you. 

He knew it sounded crazy, but after years of Aang’s gut instincts and wisdom drawn from the spirit world, Sokka didn’t know what to believe anymore. 

Maybe it wasn’t just a coincidence. 

He kept this darker, deeper fear buried beneath his dad jokes and complaints over smaller, less thought-consuming problems. 

You walked in on him cooking dinner, turning thin strips of meat over a makeshift griddle you’d fueled with your firebending. 

“Sokka, listen, regardless of what may or may not happen to me, I still want to be with you. You can’t let this fear of yours hold you back from being happy... from both of us being happy,” you said. 

He raised an eyebrow in your direction and shot you one of his goofy smiles. “Never say never!” 

You didn’t return the smile, merely folding your arms and leaning back against the wood pole at the center of his tent. 

His smile faltered and he sighed, turning his attention back to the meal he was preparing. 

“I’d like you alive, thank you very much,” he said softly.

You stepped closer, taking in the peach fuzz on the curve of his neck and the way the ember glow made his dark eyelashes look like threads of honey. His blue eyes didn’t have the playful glint they normally did.

“Look at me,” you said softly. 

He complied, albeit reluctantly. The forced eye contact was making it difficult for him to avoid your persistence. 

“You are not responsible for the deaths of Yue or Suki. It was their fate, a fate out of your hands. And as for me... I will keep loving you until you decide to admit to yourself that you love me too,” you said. You suddenly felt the prolonged tension in your jaw and forehead and let out a breath you didn’t know you’d been holding. 

Sokka’s eyes were glassy with tears that refused to spill. He shook his head softly as he blew out the small flame on the stovetop and placed the meal he prepared on a long plate. 

“The universe works in strange ways, hot stuff.” That was his nickname for you. “I didn’t believe in things like this until Aang kicked the firelord’s ass. Now I do. Simply crossing paths with me could’ve been what killed them.”

“You’re the science-y guy. I thought you’d know better than to blame yourself for something like that.” 

“There’s a lot that can be explained by science that we haven’t figured out yet.” He furrowed his eyebrows, the past and present fighting each other within himself. 

“Sokka-“ 

He turned away before you could say anything else, stepping behind the folding dressing screen to change into something more comfortable. You tried not to stare at the faint silhouette of his body from the other side. 

“Are you ignoring me?” you asked, trying to shove your frustration down inside yourself. 

He didn’t respond, back still turned to you. He lifted the faded blue shirt off his skinny torso, his smooth, olive shoulders peeking out from over the screen. You bit your lip and looked at your feet, at the maroon slippers he had patched up for you. 

“...Maybe I was wrong about you loving me,” you wondered aloud.

“What?” he said loudly, stepping out from behind the screen, barely dressed. You normally would’ve been flustered at the sight of his toned upper body and calves, but you were truly upset now and not in the mood. 

“You heard what I said.” 

“You’re being unfair.” He too wasn’t going through the trouble of concealing his frustration. “You know how hard it was for me to lose them. I can’t lose you too.”

“You won’t lose me!” you shouted.

“You don’t know that!”

“Even if, for some reason, you are cursed, I don’t care! I just want to be with you!” You were embarrassed and mad and exhausted. The words were pouring out against your will. “Even if you were cursed and Yue and Suki knew that, I bet they’d still choose to love you. Just like I’m choosing you now. Don’t you get it? I choose you!” 

Your shrill voice cut into silence, the words hanging in the air like heavy fog. Sokka stared at you, wide eyed.

“You choose me?” he mouthed, repeating your words to feel how they tasted in his mouth. 

“Yes,” you breathed. 

You knew he wanted to ask “why” but didn’t, and you were thankful. You wouldn’t have had an answer. You weren’t sure why you had loved him over the many talented benders you’d met over the years. You didn’t know what it was about him that made your heart ache when he was nearby. You just knew it had to be him. It had to be Sokka.

He stepped closer and you felt your back brush against the wall, making your heart leap into your chest. 

“Okay, hot stuff. You’ve clearly got a death wish,” he said, his smile returning to his lips. The lips you were straining to ignore. “Luckily for you, I’ve got killer make-out skills.”

“That’s the dumbest joke I’ve ever heard. Like actually the dumbest ever. Zero out of ten,” you said, but you were still smiling anyway as he pressed his body into yours, placing his hands on both sides of your face and tilting your mouth up to meet his.


End file.
